Finland takes clear victory over Japan

In the second game of the IIHF Twelve Nations Invitational Tournament Series, host Finland played against Japan.

The game seemed to be a copy of yesterday’s exhibition game when scoring was difficult, and Japan´s goaltender saved many of the Finnish shots. In the first period both of the teams didn’t show their real skill level except for Japan´s goaltender Shizuka Takahashi.

In the second period the Finns started to use their talent and at 6:43 Tanja Niskanen took a sharp wrist-shot and moved the Finns to a 1-0 lead, which stayed as the game winning goal. Finland scored two more goals at the end of the period and the Finns were ahead safely 3-0 after two periods.

The third period was dominated by Finland, especially with the power play where they scored three goals out of as many power plays. Japan’s goaltender had again a tough night against Finland, and she saved 47 shots. Finland’s goaltender Meeri Räisänen played an impressive and confident game, while she saved a penalty shot and was in front of the puck 19 times. The phenomenon on the ice was Tanja Niskanen gathering two goals and two assists.